Marble carrier



Feb- 10, 1953 w. v. slNl-:s 2,627,973

" MARBLE CARRIER l Filed July 25, 1949 Trl c JNVEQ/TOR. W/u/A/w K J//vfs Patented Feb. 10, 1953 UNITED STATESk ATENT GFFICE MARBLE CARRIER W illiam V. Sines, Flint, Mich.v

Application July 23, 1949, Serial No..106,352

( Cl. vG-56) 4 Claims.

rlhis invention relates' to a device for carrying and dispensing marbles.

It is anMobject of 'the invention to provide an attractive container for carrying marbles which is constructed simply `so as to be manufactured economically and which at the same time is provided lwith a simple dispensing mechanism which can be actuated to discharge marbles from the container one at a time.

A further object oi` the invention resides in the provision of a marble carrying container having transparent side walls spaced apart to maintain the marbles in a single plane in the container so that the marbles may be counted readily without 'removal from the container.

lfiiiotlfier object of the invention is to provide a marble carrying device having parallel side walls spaced apart 'to accommodate a single marble and a bottom wall inclined downwardly at one end, the side walls and bottom wall cooperating to hold the marbles in a single plane and direct them into a marble dispensing mechanism at the lower end of the bottom wall.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the marble carrying device of this invention having portions removed to show the dispensing mechanism. and the means employed for preventing the marbles from falling out of the container.

Figure 2 is an end view of the device.

Figure 3 is a sectional view taken substantially along the lines 3 3 in Figure l.

Figure 4 is a sectional view taken substantially along the lines 4 4 in Figure l.

Referring to the drawings, the marble carrying device is shown in the form of a ycase ill which is comprised of two half sections l2 and i4 'which are secured together along central Aparting surfaces iS as by cementing or other means. Section i2V of case IS is provided with a peripheral ange I8 Awhich seats on a peripheral shoulder 20 on section I4 so that the se-ctions maybe cemented or otherwise secured together in a very rigid manner. Case l) is preferably molded of a transparent plastic material with the side walls 22 and 24 of sections I2 and I4 spaced apart in the assembled condition a distance only slightly greater than the diameter of the marbles to be contained within the case. Side walls 22 and 2d are generally parallel so that the marbles are contained within the case in a single vertical plane. A pair of brackets 26 are molded in rear wall 24, said brackets being adapted to suspend the case from the wearers belt.

At its lower end case Ill is provided with a bottom wall 23 which slopes downwardly towards one end of the container. At saidlower end wall 28 is provided with a concavity 29 centrally slotted as at 30. Within slotted portion "3!) of concavity 29 there is -pivotally supported a wheel member -32 having three arcuately shaped fingers 3'4. Fingers 34 are located centrally Abetween walls i2 and id and are shaped'to provide three pockets 'ed each cf which "is adapted to `'accommodate a single 'marble 38'as is shown in Figure 1. The lower end of the front wall 4D of case l0 is apertured yas at `42 adjacent the slotted portion 3?. Aperture i2 is dimensioned so `as to permit only one marble at a time to be `discharged therethrough. The axis 44 of wheel member 32 is positioned in alignment with iront wall 4B so that when the wheel member is rotated 'ngers 34 are successively pivoted through slot 3B and aperture i2 to a position projecting outwardly beyond the front wall tu of the container. The 'outer ends of ilngers Se are provided with serratio'ns 46 Awhich facilitate the manual actuation yof wheel -3`2.

Side walls i2 and i4 are extended downwardly beyond the bottom wall 28 and lconcavity 29. at the lower end oi case I'El so as to provide a shield portion ri at each vside of wheel 32 'which 'substantially encloses fingers 34 below bottom wall 23. The nngers are thus exposed around only about one-third the circumference of wheel 32.

The upper wall 5B of case IQ is apertured 'as 'at 52 to provide -an opening through which the marbles may be inserted into the container. A leaf spring 54 is positionedag-ainst the rinner surface oi top wall 5t with its free end extending across opening 52 so as to prevent marbles from Vfalling out of 'the container through the opening. Spring' v5d has a downwardly bent shoulder portion 5t at the anchored end thereof which is engaged between a lug 58 in walls l2 and I4 and a shoulder 5&3 in wall 5D so as to hold the spring in the assembled position.

When it is desired to ll the container with marbles, the marbles are pressed through opening 52 one at a time so as to ex spring 54 downwardly and thereby provide clearance for the passage of the marbles. v It will be observed that spring 54 prevents the marbles from falling out or" opening 52 if the caseis accidentally or otherwise inverted. The marbles can be discharged from the container only through opening 42, and then only by actuating wheel 32. When it is desired to discharge a marble from within the container wheel 32 is rotated in a clockwise direction. This operation is facilitated by the Yserrations 45 at the end of each finger member 34. Since bottom wall 28 of the case is inclined downwardly towards wheel 32 it will be appreciated that the marbles will gravitate to the lower end of the case, the lowermost marble occupying concavity 29, in which position it overlies slot '30. When wheel 32 is rotated the nger '34 within slot 3s picks up the marble in yconcavity 29 and carries it upwardly and out through opening -42. It will be noted that when one of the -fingers T34 is `in the marble receiving position within slot 39 as is shown in Figure l the vnext 'successive ng'er'in a clockwise direction vobstructs opening -42 vand `normally obstruct the thereby prevents the marbles from being discharged from the case unless wheel 32 is rotated.

As soon as one of the ngers 34 discharges a marble through opening 42 the next succeeding finger is positioned within slot 30 to receive the marble which has gravitated into concavity 29.

Whenever one of the marbles is discharged through opening 42 it will be noted that another marble automatically advances to the position overlying slot 3B in concavity 29 and at least momentarily obstructs the further rotation of wheel 32. This momentary obstruction is due to the fact that as the marble seated within concavity 29 is picked up by lingers 34 in pocket Se and rotated toward aperture 42 it pushes out of its way surrounding marbles in the container so that the obstruction produced by these other marbles must be overcome before one of the lingers 34 can be rotated upwardly through slot 30. This action results in a step by step movement of wheel 32 which enables the marbles to be discharged one at a time and prevents the marbles from being discharged accidentally.

It will thus be seen that I have provided a very attractive marble carrier from which the marbles are not apt to become accidentally discharged. The spacing of the transparent side walls'of the container to accommodate a single marble not only enables the child to count his marbles without removing them from the case Vbut also provides a very attractive marble carrier when lled with colored marbles. In addition the side walls cooperate with the downwardly inclined bottom wall of the case so that the marbles are fed one at a time into concavity 29 in which position they are adapted to be picked up by lingers 34 and discharged through opening 42. By designing the marble dispensing wheel so that when one of the ngers 35i lies within slot 39 the next succeeding finger blocks opening 42, it will be appreciated that the marbles lcan be discharged only by rotating the wheel.

The shield portion 48 at the lower end of the container substantially encloses the fingers 3d 4around'the lower portion of their relative movement and the likelihood of accidentally rotating wheel 32 as by rubbing against the clothing of the wearer or the like is therefore reduced to a minimum.

I claim:

1. A marble carrying and dispensing device comprising a container having side walls and a said side walls being spaced apart a distance j only slightly greater than the diameter of the marbles so as to maintain the marbles in said container in' a single plane extending upwardly v from said bottom wall, said container having an ber having a thickness corresponding to the width of said slotted portion and being arranged to passage of marbles through the enlarged portion of said aperture, said wheel member having a plurality of cirvcumierentially spaced marble receiving pockets .therein each adapted to accommodate a single marble, said pockets being arranged to bodily carry a marble out of said container through 5 the enlarged portion of said aperture when said 'bottom wall, said bottom Wall being inclined' downwardly toward one end of said container,

wheel member is rotated, said slotted portion being narrower than the marbles.

2. A marble carrying and dispensing device comprising a container having side Walls and a bottom wall, said bottom wall being inclined downwardly toward one end of said container, said side walls being spaced apart a distance only slightly greater than the diameter of the marbles so as to maintain the marbles in said container in a single plane extending upwardly from said bottom wall, said container having an aperture at the lower end thereof and a slot connected with said aperture, and slot being of a width insuflcient to pass a marble therethrough, a wheel member mounted for rotation in said aperture and slot on an axis extending transversely of the plane of said sidewalls, said wheel member being arranged to normally obstruct the passage of marbles through said aperture, said wheel member having a plurality of circumferentially spaced marble receiving pockets therein each adapted to accommodate a single marble, said pockets being arranged to bodily carry a marble out of said container through said aperture when said wheel member is rotated, said wheel member having peripheral portions thereof projecting outwardly beyond the walls of said container whereby said wheel may be rotated with a step by step movement by engaging said outwardly projecting peripheral portions with the ngers.

3. A marble carrying and dispensing device comprising a container having sidewalls and a bottom wall inclined downwardly toward one end of the container, said container having an aperture at said lower end, a wheel member mounted on said container for rotation in said aperture on an axis generally parallel to the plane of said bottom wall, means on said wheel forming a plurality of circumferentially spaced marble receiving pockets, said pockets being shallower than the marbles so that the marbles in said pockets extend outwardly beyond the periphery of said wheel, said aperture having a discharge portion spaced above the axis of said wheel and above said bottom wall and disposed in the path of said means forming marble receiving pockets on said wheel, said portion of said aperture being of a size to accommodate a single marble, whereby when said wheel is rotated said marbles gravitate into said marble receiving pockets and are carried upwardly by said wheel and discharged one at a time through said portion of said aperture spaced abovesaid bottom wall. 1

4. T he combination as set forth in claim 3 vwherein said means forming'said pockets are REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,891,817 Hildebrand Dec. 20, 1932 2,075,988 Johnson Apr. 6, 1937 2,281,424 Englert Apr. 23, 1942 

